Walters Ms. W.622, Five poems (quintet)

W.622

Five poems (quintet)

Khamsah-i Dihlavī

Vernacular: خمسه دهلوى

Authority name: Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī, ca. 1253-1325

As-written name: Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī

Name, in vernacular: امير خسرو دهلوى

Note: Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 725 AH / 1325 CE

This is an illustrated and illuminated Safavid copy of the Khamsah (quintet) of Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī (d. 725 AH / 1325 CE), written by Pīr Ḥusayn al-Kātib al-Shīrāzī in 935 AH / 1529 CE. The codex opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece with verses in honor of the poet Mir (Amir) Khusraw (fols. 1b-2a). There are four illuminated incipit pages introducing the individual poems, and thirteen paintings illustrate the text. The lacquer binding, which is not original to the manuscript, has a hunting scene on the upper and lower boards. The lower board is inscribed yā Shāh Najaf (oh, King of Najaf, i.e. ʿAlī) and is dated 1271 AH / 1854 CE.

23 Dhū al-Qaʿdah 935 AH / 1529 CE

Iran

As-written name: Pīr Ḥusayn al-Kātib al-Shīrāzī

Name, in vernacular: پير حسين الكاتب الشيرازي

Note: Scribe's name appears at the end of Āyinah-i Iskandarī (fol. 224a), not in the final colophon

Book

Literary -- Poetry

The primary language in this manuscript is Persian. The secondary language of this manuscript is Arabic.

fol. 274a:

1. Transliteration: tamma al-kitāb bi-ʿawn Allāh al-Malik al-Wahhāb wa-ḥusn tawfīqih fī yawm al-arbaʿāʾ /1/ thālith ʿishrīn [sic] shahr Dhī al-Qaʿdah sanat khams wa-thalāthīn wa- /2/ tisʿimi<ʾ>ah min al-hijrah al-nabawīyah al-muṣṭafawīyah ṣlʿm (=ṣallá Allāh ʿalayhi wa-sallama) /3/

Paper

Laid paper

Foliation: 274+i

Catchwords: Written obliquely on versos

16.5 cm wide by 27.0 cm high

9.0 cm wide by 17.5 cm high

1. Columns: 4
2. Ruled lines: 17
3. Framing lines in blue, black, and gold; text written horizontally and obliquely

fols. 1b - 274a:

1. Title: Khamsah-i Dihlavī
2. Author: Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī, ca. 1253-1325
3. Scribe: Pīr Ḥusayn al-Kātib al-Shīrāzī
4. Incipit: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم خطبه قدست بملك قديم...
5. Text note: Contains the five poems: Maṭlaʿ al-anvār (fols. 1b-55a), Shīrīn va Khusraw (fols. 55b-114a), Majnūn va Laylá (fols. 114b-155a), Āyinah-i Iskandarī (fols. 155b-224a), Hasht bihisht (fols. 224b-274a); some folios damaged, causing loss of text
6. Hand note: Written in nastaʿlīq script in black with sections/headings in gold and blue
7. Decoration note: Thirteen illustrations (fols. 23a, 34b, 39a, 66a, 123a, 130b, 173b, 186b, 207b, 232b, 244b, 254b, and 267b); double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a); illuminated incipit pages with titlepieces (Shīrīn va Khusraw [fol. 55b], Majnūn va Laylá [fol. 114b], Āyinah-i Iskandarī [fol. 155b], and Hasht bihisht [fol. 224b]); framing lines in blue, black, and gold

Upper board outside:

1. 
2. Title: Binding
3. Form: Binding
4. Label: This lacquer binding depicts a hunting scene and dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.

fol. 1b:

1. 
2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece
4. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece introducing the first poem of the Khamsah, Maṭlaʿ al-anvār. The inscription consists of verses in honor of Mīr (Amīr) Khusraw.

fol. 2a:

1. 
2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece
4. Text: Maṭlaʿ al-anvār
5. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece introducing the first poem of the Khamsah, Maṭlaʿ al-anvār. The inscription consists of verses in honor of Mīr (Amīr) Khusraw.

fol. 23a:

1. 
2. Title: The prophet Khizr paying a visit to a pious man
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Maṭlaʿ al-anvār

fol. 34b:

1. 
2. Title: Four men die of thirst in a desert
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Maṭlaʿ al-anvār
5. Label: Four men die of thirst in a desert, each refusing the water offered by a stranger on a camel until his companion has drunk.

fol. 39a:

1. 
2. Title: A king out hunting accidentally kills a young man
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Maṭlaʿ al-anvār
5. Label: A king out hunting accidentally kills a young man and offers to compensate his mother with his own life or a platter of gold.

fol. 55b:

1. 
2. Title: Illuminated incipit page with titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Shīrīn va Khusraw
5. Label: This illuminated incipit page has a titlepiece inscribed with the title of the second poem of the Khamsah, Kitāb-i Shīrīn va Khusraw, in white ink on a gold ground.

fol. 66a:

1. 
2. Title: Khusraw meets Shīrīn while hunting
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Shīrīn va Khusraw

fol. 114b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Majnūn va Laylá
5. Label: This illuminated incipit page has a titlepiece inscribed with the title of the third poem of the Khamsah, Kitāb-i Majnūn Laylī, in white ink on a gold ground.

fol. 123a:

1. 
2. Title: Laylá and Majnūn fall in love at school
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Majnūn va Laylá

fol. 130b:

1. 
2. Title: Nawfal battles Laylá’s clan on behalf of Majnūn
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Majnūn va Laylá

fol. 155b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Āyinah-i Iskandarī
5. Label: This illuminated incipit page has a titlepiece inscribed with the title of the fourth poem of the Khamsah, Kitāb-i āyinah-i Iskandarī, in white ink on a gold ground.

fol. 173b:

1. 
2. Title: Alexander the Great lassos a Chinese warrior
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Āyinah-i Iskandarī

fol. 186b:

1. 
2. Title: Alexander the Great entertains Kanīfū
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Āyinah-i Iskandarī

fol. 207b:

1. 
2. Title: Alexander the Great confers with wise men
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Āyinah-i Iskandarī
5. Label: Iskandar (Alexander the Great) confers with wise men about his intention to investigate the mysteries of the deep.

fol. 224b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Hasht bihisht
5. Label: This illuminated incipit page has a titlepiece inscribed with the title of the fifth poem of the Khamsah, Kitāb-i hasht bihisht, in white ink on a gold ground.

fol. 232b:

1. 
2. Title: Bahrām Gūr displays his hunting skills before Dilārām
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Hasht bihisht

fol. 244b:

1. 
2. Title: Bahrām Gūr in the green pavilion
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Hasht bihisht

fol. 254b:

1. 
2. Title: Bahrām Gūr in the blue pavilion
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Hasht bihisht

fol. 267b:

1. 
2. Title: Bahrām Gūr in the white pavilion
3. Form: Illustration
4. Text: Hasht bihisht

The binding is not original.

Lacquer boards (without flap) depicting hunting scenes with a gazelle and a bear; inscription on the lower board, dated 1271 AH / 1854 CE, reads: yā Shāh Najaf (oh, King of Najaf, i.e. ʿAlī)

Former owner: Muḥammad ʿAlī Shīrāzī ibn […] Muḥammad Qāsim Shīrāzī, 1250[?]

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Seyller, John. Pearls of the Parrot of India: The Walters Art Museum Khamsa of Amīr Khusraw of Delhi. (Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2001), 151.

Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam

Catalogers: Landau, Amy; Smith, Sita

Editor: Bockrath, Diane

Conservators: Jewell, Stephanie; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Barrera, Christina; Emery, Doug; Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Simpson, Shreve; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Valle, Chiara

The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.